MORE ADVENTURES IN THE SERENGETI, BLOG 9, MARCH 26TH 2020

Leaving the cheetah family to enjoy their feast we go in search of a place to have our own lunch. George scouts around many single acacia trees but rejects them all due to the thick weeds that are growing underneath the thorn trees. George says the heavy undergrowth is due to the abundant rain the Serengeti has been having. George finally gives up finding a safe place to eat lunch in this area and we end up driving several miles to a valley. Paul is sure we were in this pretty valley in 2018 and George affirms that indeed we were. It doesn’t ring a bell with me though.

George drives down next to a mostly dry swamp and parks the truck near a scraggly tree that offers a bit of shade. The grass and weeds are still thick but short so a predator couldn’t hide very easily here. We enjoy the wonderful lunch that the staff at Nyumbani camp packed for us while appreciating the serenity surrounding us.

After our late lunch George begins scoping out the Kopjes that are scattered through the plains. We see a couple of safari trucks near one large kopje so we decide to go and see what they are surveying. When we arrive, we see a huge male lion stretched out on one of the gigantic boulders. It is early afternoon so I am surprised that the handsome cat is comfortably lazing in the hot sun. As we drive around the rock, we find another lion sleeping at the top of the Kopje. The lion closest to us stands up, takes about four steps and promptly lays down again. The landscape around the kopje where the two lions are resting is absolutely beautiful and I find myself gazing over the grasslands almost as much as I am looking at the big lions.

We must be out of the park by dark and we are a long way from Nyumbani camp so we leave the lions and begin our journey back to camp.  We enjoy plenty of wildlife as we drive towards Nyumbani. Not far from the Serenera airport we see a bunch of vehicles along the side of a road at least a half mile away across the fields. George brings the truck to a halt and all of us use our binoculars to scope the area. George finds the lion first but Paul and I soon see the majestic male lion. We watch as the big fellow saunters towards a single tree near the road. The big male reaches the tree, jumps into the trees ‘crotch, then he continues climbing up the tree until he reaches a thick lateral branch and lays down.

George asks if we want to join the crowd surrounding the tree climbing lion. I hem haw around not sure I want to be part of the madhouse. Paul says a lion in a tree is pretty rare and quite a photo op. In the end we decide to go but what we didn’t understand was the tree dwelling lion is across a waterway and we can’t get there via the road we are on. George says we will backtrack as there is a place where we can cross the waterway. The track is rough and we drive and drive which makes me question our decision. There are several other vehicles, some in front and others following us, that are obviously going to the crossing too. As we approach the crossing, we watch a truck that is attempting to traverse the rough crossing. As the vehicle lurches and bounces along it suddenly tilts heavily to one side. Ohoh, the driver tries all the tricks to free his stuck truck but it is obvious that he is going nowhere. All the other guides, including George, come to a stop and study the situation. Paul and I tell George trying to get to the lion isn’t worth the risk as it is getting quite late in the day. George seems happy with our decision and turns the truck around. As we are driving away a guide stops George and the two converse in Swahili. The man then drives on and evidently has decided to try and reach the mired down truck.

We watch as the fellow steers his truck this way and that trying to find the best path to follow in order to reach the stranded guide. Oh no, the good Samaritan’s vehicle also falters and becomes stuck several yards away from his fellow guide. This is really bad. George shakes his head and says no one on this side will be able to help the stranded guides and they will have to have somebody that is on that side of the ravine to come and pull them out. As we begin to drive away, we see the guide who was the first to get stuck, talking on his phone. Hopefully, help is on the way.

We bounce our way back over the bumpy terrain and upon reaching the main road we notice two vehicles parked on a side road. The occupants of the trucks are peering intently into the high grass. Since there are only two trucks, we decide to see what has caught the people’s attention. We pull up behind the two vehicles however we can’t see the object of their attention. One of the passengers tell us there is a Serval cat that is in hunting mode.  The two drivers are kind enough to pull their trucks forward which allows George to drive up to where we catch a glimpse of the hunter just as it leaps at its unidentified quarry. We can’t tell if the little cat was successful as it has disappeared into the heavy grass.

Suddenly a line of safari vans is streaming onto the narrow road. Oh crap, they are parking behind us and beside us so we are blocked in. George and the vehicles in front of us turn their trucks around and try to wind their way out of this mess. George is making slow progress and we aren’t far from the main road when another guide begins backing up and nearly hits our truck. George has a few words with the man who completely ignores George and continues backing up. He comes close to bumping other trucks and nobody can move their vehicles in either direction. The selfish man has literally put a cork in the bottleneck! The man backs all the way to the main road not caring that other people are having to do some hectic maneuvering to let him get through. This is a good refresher course on why you steer clear of these safari traffic jams no matter what has been found!

We are an hour away from Nyumbani Camp and by the low position of the sun, I don’t think we have an hour of light left. I ask George if we will make it to camp before dark, and he assures me that we will. George drives as fast as is allowed plus he takes a shortcut which proves to have better roads than the route we took yesterday. We arrived at camp at sunset and the good news is that we were late enough so the tsetse flies weren’t active.

Once we have cleaned up, we return for a delicious dinner of zucchini soup, pork chops and rice. Last night I asked Amani, he takes care of us at meal times, if they could fix me smaller portions. They actually listened to me and I have one pork chop where Paul received two chops. Paul and I comment to each other how personable and happy this staff are. While we are dining a burst of laughter drifts up to us from the food preparation tent. The laughter is so heartfelt that we join in even though we have no idea what is so funny.

After we are finished dining, we are escorted to the bonfire where we enjoy the brilliant stars while having a pleasant visit with Amani. Occasionally Daniel casts a beam of light over the thick, tall grass that is surrounding the fire pit area. I doubt you could detect any wild animal in that cover but at least it makes us feel a little better. Daniel leads us back to our tent and bids us goodnight. As Paul and I are drifting off to sleep we are serenaded by lions roaring in the night.

Another early morning and we are looking forward to what this new day will bring for us but it is hard to imagine that it could be as incredible as yesterday. Eleven cheetahs, I still can’t quite believe it.

George arrives right on time; we clamber into the truck and off we go. It is another wonderful morning and in the early morning light the countryside is aglow. We haven’t driven ten minutes when almost simultaneously we all exclaim “lion”.  As we draw nearer to the golden cat, I ask George what she is doing, as the lion is smelling then scraping at the ground. I have no more asked my question when we notice a zebra carcass behind the lioness. George explains that the lioness is trying to cover up the scent of her kill in hopes of keeping hyena from finding the carcass.

George pulls the truck parallel to the lion and her kill and we realize that there are two cubs who are eating on the zebra. Only the back half of the cubs are visible as they are literally feasting inside the stomach of the unfortunate zebra. We can see enough of them to know that these poor things are in very bad shape. The cubs hip bones and ribs are visible and their hair coat is dull. The fact that they are gorging themselves and growling at each other at least means they still have the will to survive. At one point one of the cubs lifts its head out of the stomach cavity and I am happy to see that its eyes are sharp and bright.

We study the lioness as she walks to the zebras remains and George brings our attention to a deep gash on the inside of her right back leg. It looks bad but it doesn’t seem to bother her. We also note that her right eye has been damaged at some point in her life. When the massive cat reaches the zebra, she grabs the dead animal’s neck and pulling with all her might moves the carcass maybe a foot. The cubs don’t seem to notice and keep right on eating. The lioness rests for a minute or so and then repeats this action. After the third bout of yanking the carcass forward, then resting, she walks back and begins smelling and digging at the grass trying to cover up the scent trail the zebra has left. Wow, we have never seen this behavior before and it is just fascinating. After her herculean effort the mother lays down for a well-deserved rest and we continue on our way. I silently wish for the mother to keep providing for her skinny offspring but know with the scarcity of game and the tall grass it won’t be easy.

We drive up behind a flock of guinea fowl and the adults and chicks refuse to move out of the road. The birds continue to run in front of us like feathered pace cars. Okay I stole that line but can’t remember if it was George or Paul that came up with the clever analogy. George keeps trying to bypass the trotting guineas with no luck but finally the birds give way and duck into the dewy grass. As usual there are a myriad of birds to look at. One of my favorites is a diminutive raptor with the descriptive name of pygmy falcon. What a beauty the little bird is. We also observe a few elephants and giraffe.

As we continue through tall grass country, I sit back and relax as I don’t see much in the way of wildlife here on the plateau. Suddenly I glimpse movement out of the corner of my eye and turn my head in time to see a huge lion running through the grass in the opposite way we are driving. All I can say to George is “whoa, whoa” although Paul has also seen the lion and coherently tells George there is a lion over here. By now, George has seen the beast, stops the truck and puts it in reverse. Paul and I have scrambled to the back of the truck and can see that the lioness is chasing something. The lioness is running but on occasion she rears up in order to see over the top of the grass in an effort to keep track of her quarry. Before we can catch up to the huntress, a warthog bursts out of the grassy field and runs full speed down the road. The lioness reaches the edge of the road but makes no attempt to go after the speedy hog. I think she has run out of gas. After witnessing this futile hunt, it is quite clear how tough it is for a predator to try and catch anything in this dense, lofty grass. The dejected lion stands still for a moment before turning around and walking back into the bush. We watch the majestic lioness meander throughout the area and George thinks she is looking for more warthogs. Eventually her wanderings take her far away from us so we continue on our journey. You just never know what awaits you!

Our main destination today is the Gol Kopjes. It is mid-morning when we arrive in the Gol Kopjes and the vista is simply stunning. As George cruises down the road we are all checking out the rocks and kopjes for wildlife. Who else but George cries out, “there is a cheetah”! I can’t believe it. I had just scanned these rocks but somehow, I missed the sinewy cat that is lying on top of a solitary boulder. Paul and George have set a goal of beating Georges record of seeing 17 different cheetahs on one safari. Well, we only have to find six more😊.

My gosh this landscape is beautiful plus it is accented by a “Kansas sky” today. George has stopped the truck and is scanning the endless plains with his binoculars. George often does this because there is just so much space out here that it is impossible to be able to see everything with the naked eye. After a brief search, George says “I see cheetahs”.  Following George’s instructions, we find the mother and cub sitting in a patch of weeds very far away from us. There are two grazing Thomson’s gazelles beyond the motionless cheetahs. George continues driving down the road which will bring us somewhat closer to the cheetahs but they are sitting several hundred yards away from the road. There is no driving off road here.

George parks the truck once we are as close to the cheetahs as we can be. The adult seems to be eyeing the gazelles and even creeps a bit closer to them. There isn’t much for the stalker to hide behind and the cheetah has a lot of ground to cover to get close enough for an attack. Oops, too late as the antelope have noticed the cheetah as she is edging towards them and they begin to walk away. Now we only need to find four new cheetahs to break George’s record.

As we leave the failed huntress behind, George tells us he saw the cheetah research vehicle when he was scoping the plains with his binoculars. Since the truck was parked, he believes they are with a cheetah. We drive perhaps a mile until we find the white 4×4 in the distance. Unlike tourists the researchers can drive cross country which makes sense. The truck is indeed sitting still but it is so far away that we have to use our binoculars in order to see the researchers. There are vultures on the ground to the right of the truck and they appear to be feeding on a carcass. Guess who first sees the cheetah that is reclining by the front tire of the researcher’s vehicle? George of course. The cheetah stands up and it looks huge and very full, but we are looking through binoculars! I guess the spotted cat took issue with the vultures eating on its kill because it takes off running and chases the scavengers away from the carcass.

The cheetah obviously isn’t hungry because it immediately turns away from the dead beast and walks towards a swath of dense grass. When the cheetah reaches the cover, we all realize that there is another sleek cheetah already laying in the shade of the bushy plants. This is almost surreal. I never dreamed we would see so many of these graceful cats in just one and a half days in the Serengeti. I think George is a cheetah magnet. Maybe we will break George’s cheetah record!

Later, Nancy